Remote operation of process control equipment over customer supplied network

ABSTRACT

A DCS protocol message addressed to a remote DCS station is generated at a local distributed control system (DCS). The DCS protocol message is received at a local tunneling device. The local tunneling device packages the DCS protocol message into a SCADA protocol message. The SCADA protocol message is transmitted from the local tunneling device to a remote tunneling device. The remote tunneling device receives the SCADA protocol message. The SCADA protocol message is unpackaged into a DCS protocol message at the remote tunneling device, and the DCS protocol message is placed on to a remote DCS such that it flows to the remote station. The DCS protocol message is received at the remote station.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/823,608, filed on Aug. 25, 2006, which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to human-machine interaction,and one particular implementation relates to an enhanced architecturefor data acquisition and monitoring.

BACKGROUND

Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (“SCADA”) systems arelarge-scale, distributed measurement and control systems, generally usedto monitor or control chemical, physical or transport processes, wherethe term SCADA usually refers to the central system that monitors andcontrols a complete site. SCADA systems are often distributed over vastgeographic areas.

Distributed Control Systems (“DCSs”) perform a similar function to SCADAsystems, although they are generally concentrated in a singlegeographical area, such as a single plant. Unlike SCADA systems, DCSsoperate using high-bandwidth, high reliability communication links, thusproviding a significant advantage at the local level. As components of aDCS are dispersed over larger geographic areas, the DCS becomes harderto implement.

SUMMARY

The benefits of device integration are of value to SCADA sites.Accordingly, the approach described herein addresses an enhancedfunctionality for SCADA networks.

According to one general implementation, a system for data acquisitionand monitoring includes a local distributed control system (DCS). TheDCS includes a local station configured to generate a DCS protocolmessage addressed to a remote station, and a local tunneling deviceconfigured to receive the DCS protocol message, package the DCS protocolmessage into a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) protocolmessage, and transmit the SCADA protocol message. The system alsoincludes a remote DCS including a remote tunneling device configured toreceive the SCADA protocol message, unpack the SCADA protocol messageinto a DCS protocol message, and transmit the DCS protocol message tothe remote station.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Thelocal station may be a field device, and the remote station may be aworkstation configured to transmit commands to the field device andreceive data from the field device. The system also may include a datacollector disposed between the local tunneling device and the remotetunneling device. The data collector may be configured to pass the SCADAprotocol message from the local tunneling device to the remote tunnelingdevice without modifying the SCADA protocol message. The data collectormay be configured to access the SCADA protocol message. The system alsomay include more than one local tunneling device, and the data collectormay be configured to receive and aggregate SCADA protocol messages fromthe more than one local tunneling device. The SCADA protocol may includea Distributed Network Protocol (DNP). The SCADA protocol may include anIEC 101 protocol.

In another general implementation, a DCS protocol message addressed to aremote station is received from a local distributed control system (DCS)station. The DCS protocol message includes a command configured tooperate the remote station. The DCS protocol message is packaged into aSupervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) protocol message andtransmitted toward the remote station. A return SCADA protocol messageis received from the remote station. The return message is unpacked intoa DCS protocol message and transmitted to the local DCS station.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. TheSCADA protocol may include a Distributed Network Protocol (DNP). TheSCADA protocol may include an IEC 101 protocol. Packaging the messagemay include determining a size of the DCS protocol message, comparingthe size to a threshold size, and dividing the DCS protocol message intoportions prior to transmitting the DCS message, each portion being lessthan the threshold size. The local DCS station may be a workstationconfigured to transmit commands to the remote station and receive datafrom the remote station, and the remote station may be a field device.The return message may include more than one portion, the portions maybe received in an order other than an order in which the portions weresent, and unpacking the return message may include converting the returnmessage having more than one portion into an unpackaged message with oneportion that includes the received portions arranged in the order inwhich the portions were sent. The return message may include informationrelated to one or more devices in communication with the remote station.The device may be one or more field devices such as a valve, a valvepositioner, a temperature transmitter, a pressure transmitter, a flowtransmitter, and a controller.

In other implementations, a second DCS protocol message may be receivedfrom another local DCS station, the second message being addressed to asecond remote station. The second DCS protocol message may be packagedinto a SCADA protocol message, and the second packaged message may betransmitted toward the second remote station, where the second packagedmessage is transmitted without regard to the transmission of the firstpackaged message. Transmitting the second packaged message withoutregard to the transmission of the first packaged message may includeinterleaving the second packaged message and the first packaged message.

Implementations of any of the techniques described above may include amethod or process, an apparatus or system, or computer software on acomputer-accessible medium. The details of particular implementationsare set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Otherfeatures will be apparent from the following description, including thedrawings, and the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts the exterior appearance of an exemplary system.

FIG. 2 depicts an example of an internal architecture of the computershown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system architecturefor implementing enhanced data acquisition and monitoring functionality.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary local station.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary tunneling device.

FIGS. 6 and 9 are flow charts illustrating exemplary methods.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a block diagrams illustrating exemplary systemarchitectures.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With regard to SCADA systems, the bulk of site control is typicallyperformed automatically by a Remote Terminal Unit (“RTU”) or by aProgrammable Logic Controller (“PLC”). Data acquisition begins at theRTU or PLC level, and includes meter readings and equipment statusmessages which are communicated to the workstation via low-bandwidthcommunication networks. Once the data is received by the workstation, itis compiled and formatted in such a way that an operator, usinghuman-machine interaction, can make appropriate supervisory decisionsthat may be required to override normal RTU controls.

The geographic dispersion of SCADA systems generally requires thatprotocols be developed to run reliably over fundamentally unreliable andbandwidth limited networks. Dealing with these issues has been thecentral focus of most SCADA development activity. At the same time, DCSvendors have had access to high performance networks since theirinception and have used their resources to address other problems. Oneof those problems is the integration of field devices into their systemssuch that the overall availability and utilization of the plant assetsis increased.

In an example SCADA system, a main terminal unit located in acentralized location is able to communicate with remote field deviceswhich are physically disposed in locations which are inhospitable tocontinuous human monitoring. The communication network between theremote field devices and the main terminal unit is typically alow-bandwidth and unreliable communication network.

In an example DCS system, a highly reliable and high-bandwidthcommunication network links a main terminal unit to field devices whichare located within a limited geographic area such as a process plant orother type of manufacturing facility. For example, the field device maybe a positioner that detects the movement of a valve and the datacommunicated by the network is critical to determining whether the valveis nearing failure, potentially affecting operations of the entireplant.

Although SCADA systems are ubiquitous, it is a challenge to integratefield devices, such as positioners, valve positioners that detect andcontrol movement of valves, temperature sensors, controllers, and flowmeters in these systems due to communication reliability problemsinherent to the associated communication networks. However, it isincreasingly important to provide for enhanced monitoring of fielddevices. Due to the prevalence of SCADA systems, it is desirable toprovide for enhanced monitoring of field devices using legacy equipment.In this regard, an architecture is provided herein capable of operatinga small DCS in a remote location, via a larger customer-suppliednetwork, such as a legacy SCADA system.

FIG. 1 depicts the exterior appearance of an example system 100.Briefly, system 100 communicates with the system control device 106, viaa control network 107. The system control device 106 may be, forexample, a SCADA device that receives data from and transmits data to aSCADA network. As shown in FIG. 1, the hardware environment of acomputer 101 includes a display monitor 108 for displaying text andimages to a user, a keyboard 109 for entering text data and usercommands into the computer 101, a mouse 110 for pointing, selecting andmanipulating objects displayed on the display monitor 108, a fixed diskdrive 111, a removable disk drive 112, a tape drive 114, a hardcopyoutput device 115, and a computer network connection 116.

The display monitor 108 displays the graphics, images, and text thatcomprise the user interface for the software applications used by thesystem 100, as well as the operating system programs necessary tooperate the computer 101. A user uses the keyboard 109 to enter commandsand data to operate and control the computer operating system programsas well as the application programs. The user uses the mouse 110 toselect and manipulate graphics and text objects displayed on the displaymonitor 108 as part of the interaction with and control of the computer101 and applications running on the computer 101. The mouse 110 may beany type of pointing device, and may be a joystick, a trackball, atouch-pad, or other pointing device.

In a further implementation, the fixed disk drive 111 itself may includea number of physical drive units, such as a redundant array ofindependent disks (“RAID”), or may be a disk drive farm or a disk arraythat is physically located in a separate computing unit. Such computerreadable memory media allow the computer 101 to accesscomputer-executable process steps, application programs and the like,stored on removable and non-removable memory media.

The computer network connection 116 may be a modem connection, alocal-area network (“LAN”) connection including the Ethernet, or abroadband wide-area network (“WAN”) connection such as a digitalsubscriber line (“DSL”), cable high-speed internet connection, dial-upconnection, T-1 line, T-3 line, fiber optic connection, or satelliteconnection. The control network 107 may be a LAN network, a corporate orgovernment WAN network, the Internet, or other network. The computer 101is directly or indirectly coupled to the system control device 106 viathe control network 107, so as to effectuate unidirectional orbidirectional transmission of data between the computer 101 and thesystem control device 106.

The computer network connection 116 may be a wired or wirelessconnector. Example wireless connectors include, for example, an INFRAREDDATA ASSOCIATION® (“IrDA®”) wireless connector, an optical wirelessconnector, an INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS®(“IEEE®”) Standard 802.11 wireless connector, a BLUETOOTH® wirelessconnector, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (“OFDM”) ultrawide band (“UWB”) wireless connector, a time-modulated ultra wide band(“TM-UWB”) wireless connector, or other wireless connector. Examplewired connectors include, for example, a IEEE®-1394 FIREWIRE® connector,a Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) connector, a serial port connector, aparallel port connector, or other wired connector.

The removable disk drive 112 is a removable storage device that is usedto off-load data from the computer 101 or upload data onto the computer101. The removable disk drive 112 may be a floppy disk drive, an IOMEGA®ZIP® drive, a compact disk-read only memory (“CD-ROM”) drive, aCD-Recordable drive (“CD-R”), a CD-Rewritable drive (“CD-RW”), flashmemory, a USB flash drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, aHigh-Density Digital Versatile Disc (“HD-DVD”) optical disc drive, aBlu-Ray optical disc drive, a Holographic Digital Data Storage (“HDDS”)optical disc drive, or any one of the various recordable or rewritabledigital versatile disc (“DVD”) drives such as the DVD-Recordable(“DVD-R” or “DVD+R”), DVD-Rewritable (“DVD-RW” or “DVD+RW”), or DVD-RAM.Operating system programs, applications, and various data files, arestored on disks, which are stored on the fixed disk drive 111 or onremovable media for the removable disk drive 112.

The tape drive 114 is a tape storage device that is used to off-loaddata from the computer 101 or to upload data onto the computer 101. Thetape drive 114 may be a quarter-inch cartridge (“QIC”), 4 mm digitalaudio tape (“DAT”), 8 mm digital linear tape (“DLT”) drive, or othertype of tape.

The hardcopy output device 115 provides an output function for theoperating system programs and applications. The hardcopy output device115 may be a printer or any output device that produces tangible outputobjects, including textual or image data or graphical representations oftextual or image data. While the hardcopy output device 115 is depictedas being directly connected to the computer 101, it need not be. Forinstance, the hardcopy output device 115 may be connected to computer101 via a network interface, such as a wired or wireless network.

The system control device 106 exists remotely on a network, and includesone or more networked data server devices or servers. The system controldevice 106 executes software which services requests sent by thecomputer 101, where the system control device 106 may include a serverfarm, a storage farm, or a storage server.

Although the computer 101 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a desktop PC, infurther implementations the computer 101 may be a laptop, a workstation,a midrange computer, a mainframe, an embedded system, telephone, ahandheld or tablet computer, a PDA, or other type of computer.

Although further description of the components which make up the systemcontrol device 106 is omitted for the sake of brevity, it suffices tosay that the hardware environment of the computer or individualnetworked computers which make up the system control device 106 issimilar to that of the exemplary hardware environment described hereinwith regard to the computer 101.

FIG. 2 depicts an example of an internal architecture of the computer101. The computing environment includes a computer central processingunit (“CPU”) 200 where the computer instructions that comprise anoperating system or an application are processed; a display interface202 which provides a communication interface and processing functionsfor rendering graphics, images, and texts on the display monitor 108; akeyboard interface 204 which provides a communication interface to thekeyboard 109; a pointing device interface 205 which provides acommunication interface to the mouse 110 or an equivalent pointingdevice; a digital input interface 206 which provides a communicationinterface to a digital input device; a hardcopy output device interface208 which provides a communication interface to the hardcopy outputdevice 115; a random access memory (“RAM”) 210 where computerinstructions and data are stored in a volatile memory device forprocessing by the computer CPU 200; a read-only memory (“ROM”) 211 whereinvariant low-level systems code or data for basic system functions suchas basic input and output (“I/O”), startup, or reception of keystrokesfrom the keyboard 109 are stored in a non-volatile memory device; andoptionally a storage 220 or other suitable type of memory (e.g. such asrandom-access memory (“RAM”), read-only memory (“ROM”), programmableread-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory(“EPROM”), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(“EEPROM”), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks,removable cartridges, flash drives), where the files that comprise anoperating system 221, application programs 222 (including generationcomponent 223, enhanced data acquisition and monitoring application 224,and other applications 225 as necessary) and data files 226 are stored;a computer network interface 216 which provides a communicationinterface to the control network 107 over the computer networkconnection 116. The constituent devices and the computer CPU 200communicate with each other over the computer bus 250.

The RAM 210 interfaces with the computer bus 250 so as to provide quickRAM storage to the computer CPU 200 during the execution of softwareprograms such as the operating system application programs, and devicedrivers. More specifically, the computer CPU 200 loadscomputer-executable process steps from the fixed disk drive 111 or othermemory media into a field of the RAM 210 in order to execute softwareprograms. Data is stored in the RAM 210, where the data is accessed bythe computer CPU 200 during execution.

Also shown in FIG. 2, the computer 101 stores computer-executable codefor a operating system 221, application programs 222 such as wordprocessing, spreadsheet, presentation, gaming, or other applications.Although it is possible to provide for enhanced data acquisition andmonitoring functionality using the above-described implementation, it isalso possible to implement the functions according to the presentdisclosure as a dynamic link library (“DLL”), or as a plug-in to otherapplication programs such as an Internet web-browser such as theMICROSOFT® Internet Explorer web browser.

The computer CPU 200 is one of a number of high-performance computerprocessors, including an INTEL® or AMD® processor, a POWERPC® processor,a MIPS® reduced instruction set computer (“RISC”) processor, a SPARC®processor, an ACORN® RISC Machine (“ARM®”) architecture processor, a HPALPHASERVER® processor or a proprietary computer processor for amainframe. In an additional arrangement, the computer CPU 200 is morethan one processing unit, including a multiple CPU configuration foundin high-performance workstations and servers, or a multiple scalableprocessing unit found in mainframes.

The operating system 221 may be MICROSOFT® WINDOWS NT®/WINDOWS®2000/WINDOWS® XP Workstation; WINDOWS NT®/WINDOWS® 2000/WINDOWS® XPServer; a variety of UNIX®-flavored operating systems, including AIX®for IBM® workstations and servers, SUNOS® for SUN® workstations andservers, LINUX® for INTEL® CPU-based workstations and servers, HP UXWORKLOAD MANAGER® for HP® workstations and servers, IRIX® for SGI®workstations and servers, VAX/VMS for Digital Equipment Corporationcomputers, OPENVMS® for HP ALPHASERVER®-based computers, MAC OS® X forPOWERPC® based workstations and servers; SYMBIAN OS®, WINDOWS MOBILE® orWINDOWS CE®, PALM®, NOKIA® OS (“NOS”), OSE®, or EPOC® for mobiledevices, or a proprietary operating system for computers or embeddedsystems. The application development platform or framework for theoperating system 221 may be: BINARY RUNTIME ENVIRONMENT FOR WIRELESS®(“BREW®”); Java Platform, Micro Edition (“Java ME”) or Java 2 Platform,Micro Edition (“J2ME®”); PYTHON™, FLASH LITE®, or MICROSOFT® .NETCompact.

Although further description of the internal architecture of the systemcontrol device 106 is omitted for the sake of brevity, it suffices tosay that the architecture is similar to that of the computer 101.

While FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one possible implementation of acomputing system that executes program code, or program or processsteps, configured to effectuate enhanced data acquisition and monitoringfunctionality, other types of computers may also be used as well.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating another exemplary system 300.Briefly, the system 300 includes a local DCS further including a localstation 301 that generates a message addressed to a remote station 310,and a local tunneling device 304 that receives the message via a DCSprotocol. The local tunneling device 304 further packages the message,and to transmit the message via a SCADA protocol. The system 300 alsoincludes a remote DCS further including a remote tunneling device 307that receives the message via the SCADA protocol, and to un-package themessage. The remote tunneling device 307 further transmits the messageto the remote station 310, via a DCS protocol.

In more detail, system 300 includes a local station 301 and a localtunneling device 304 that communicate data 302 via a DCS protocol.Although the local station 301 and the local tunneling device 304 aredepicted as being directly connected, they need not be. For example, anynumber of intermediary devices may be interposed between the localstation 301 and the local tunneling device 304, as would be typical in aDCS. The local station 301 and the local tunneling device 304 arecollectively referred to herein as the local DCS 305.

In the instance where the local station 301 is a main terminal unit,host computer, or InFusion® workstation, the local DCS 305 representsthe central subcomponent of the system 300, where data is sent to andreceived from remote field devices, compiled, and monitored by a human.In the instance where the local station 301 is a remote field device,the local DCS 305 represents the field component, which receives datafrom and sends data to a central monitoring system. Although the system300 includes two DCS subsystems, since the transmission of data betweenthe subsystems via the SCADA protocol is transparent to each subsystem,it does not matter if the local DCS 305 represents the centralized hubcomponent or the field component of the overall system 300.

The local tunneling device 304 communicates data 306A with the remotetunneling device 307A using the SCADA protocol, and the remote tunnelingdevice 307A communicates data 309A with a remote station 310A using theDCS protocol. The remote tunneling device 307A and the remote station310A are collectively referred to herein as the remote DCS 311A. Asabove, it does not matter if the remote DCS 311A represents thecentralized hub component.

In some implementations, the system 300 may include more than one remotetunneling device. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the system 300includes both the remote tunneling device 307A and the remote tunnelingdevice 307B. For instance, the local tunneling device 304 may transmitthe data 306A to the remote tunneling device 307A and transmit the data306B to the remote tunneling device 307B. The data 306A and 306B may bethe same data, such as in the case of a data broadcast, or the data 306Aand 306B may be different. For example, data addressed to the remotetunneling device 307A may be an instruction to control a field device,such a valve positioner, that is in communication with the remotetunneling device 307A. Data addressed to the remote tunneling device307B may be an instruction to check the status of an additional fielddevice that is in communication with the remote tunneling device 307B.Although the example system 300 shows one local station 301 and onelocal tunneling device 304, in other configurations more than one localstation may be in communication with the local tunneling device 304. Thesystem 300 may also include more than one local tunneling device.

FIG. 3 also illustrates a data collector 312 disposed between the localtunneling device 304 and the remote tunneling device 307B. In general,the data collector 312 passes data from a local tunneling device to aremote tunneling device. The data collector 312 passes the data 306Bfrom the local tunneling device 304 to the remote tunneling device 307B,over one or more SCADA networks. However, the data collector 312 may beplaced in other locations. For example, the data collector 312 may bedisposed between the local tunneling device 304 and the remote tunnelingdevice 307A. In some implementations, the data collector 312 receivesdata and passes the received data from the local tunneling devicewithout changing the data. In other implementations, the data collector312 receives data and aggregates, processes, interprets the receiveddata, and/or routes the data to one or more remote tunneling devices.The data that the data collector 312 receives and processes may be aSCADA protocol message.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are block diagrams illustrating an exemplary local station400 and an exemplary tunneling device 500. The local station 400 may bea local station similar to the local station 301 or the remote station310 described with respect to FIG. 3. The local station 400 includes alocal network connection 410, a message generator 420, an input/outputinterface 430, a processor 440, and a memory 450.

Generally, the local network connection 410 receives and transmits datafrom a local network that is in communication with the local station400. The local network may be, for example, a DCS system in which ahigh-bandwidth and high-reliability network links a main terminal unitto field devices located within a limited geographical area. The localstation 400 may be a field device or it may be a workstation thatreceives data from a field device and transmit commands to the fielddevice. Examples of field devices include valve positioners that detectand control movement of valves, temperature sensors, controllers, andflow meters. In some implementations, the field devices may beintelligent field devices. In general, an intelligent field device mayinclude a processor and memory, the memory storing instructions to causethe processor to cause the intelligent field device to perform afunction. For example, an intelligent field device may be programmed totest the operability of a valve by causing a stem that controls the flowof fluid through the valve to move. More than one device similar to thelocal station 400 may be connected to the local network. The messagegenerator 420 generates a message based on data received at the localnetwork connection 410. As discussed in more detail with respect to FIG.6, the message generator 420 generates the message in the DCS protocol.

The local station 400 also includes the input/output interface 430,which may be used to communicate directly with the local station 400.For example, the input/output interface 430 may be a printer port, anadditional network connection, and/or an interface that is capable ofreceiving data from an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard. Thelocal station 400 also includes a processor 440 and a memory 450. Forexample, the memory 450 may store instructions that, when executed,cause the processor 440 to generate a DCS protocol message using themessage generator 420.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the exemplary tunneling device 500. Thetunneling device 500 may be similar to the local tunneling device 304 orthe remote tunneling devices 307A and 307B described above with respectto FIG. 3. In general, the tunneling device 500 receives a message thatis packaged as a DCS protocol message or as a SCADA protocol message.The tunneling device 500 packages the received message as a SCADAprotocol message or a DCS protocol message.

The tunneling device 500 includes a local network connection 510, a datapackager module 520, a SCADA network connection 530, a processor 540,and a memory 550. The local network connection 510 receives DCS protocolmessages from a local network, such as a DCS system. The local networkconnection 510 also places DCS protocol messages onto the local network.Similarly, the SCADA network connection 550 transmits and receives SCADAprotocol messages to and from a SCADA network. In some implementations,the local network connection 510 and the SCADA network connection 550may be combined in a single network connection.

The tunneling device 500 also includes a data packager module 520 thatincludes a data input routine 522, a data packager 524, a data exportroutine 526, and a SCADA message buffer 527. The data packager module520 packages received DCS protocol messages into SCADA protocolmessages. The data packager module 520 also receives SCADA protocolmessages and unpacks the SCADA protocol messages into DCS protocolmessages. The SCADA protocol generally has the ability to store messagesfor transmission in the event of a temporary communications failure onthe customer-supplied network (such as a SCADA network) between thelocal and remote tunneling devices. The SCADA message buffer 527 maystore such messages for transmission.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary method 600 used bythe exemplary system architecture of FIG. 3. Briefly, a messageaddressed to a remote station is generated at a local DCS, a localtunneling device accepts the message using a DCS protocol, the localtunneling device packages the message in a SCADA protocol. Furthermore,the local tunneling device sends the packaged message to a remotetunneling device at a remote DCS via a SCADA protocol, and the remotetunneling device receives the packaged message. The remote tunnelingdevice removes the SCADA protocol packaging from the message, and placesthe message on a remote DCS.

In more detail, the method 600 begins (S601), and the local DCSgenerates a message addressed to a remote station, where the message istransmitted via a DCS protocol (S602). The message may be a messageoriginating from a workstation at a centralized hub addressed to anindividual field device in the field, or the message may be dataoriginating a field device, such as a valve positioner, addressed to aworkstation at a centralized hub in response to a request from thecentralized hub. Notably, the message is addressed to the remote stationas if the remote station were part of the local DCS.

The local tunneling device intercepts, accepts, accesses or otherwisereceives the message (S604), and packages the message using a SCADAprotocol (S605). Accordingly, the local tunneling device acts as a proxyfor the equipment at the remote site, by accepting the message in thesame manner as any other device on the local DCS.

Once embedded or otherwise packaged in a SCADA protocol message ormessages, the local tunneling device transmits the message to theappropriate remote tunneling device at the appropriate DCS, asdetermined by address information contained within the message (S606).The local tunneling device transmits the message to the remote tunnelingdevice via a SCADA protocol. In some implementations, SCADA protocolmessages may be addressed to different DCSs. In this implementation, thelocal tunneling device may interleave the SCADA protocol messages suchthat the SCADA protocol messages are sent to the various DCSs atapproximately the same time. In some implementations, and as describedin more detail with respect to FIG. 7, since certain SCADA protocolssupport framing, the SCADA protocol message may be divided into portionsprior to transmission to the appropriate remote tunneling device at theappropriate DCS. The portions may be, for example, one or more pieces ofthe message, one or more packets, the entire message, and/or one or moresubsets of the message.

The remote tunneling device at the appropriate remote DCS receives themessage via a SCADA protocol (S607), and removes the SCADA protocolpackaging from the message (S609). If the received message was dividedinto portions prior to transmission, the remote tunneling device alsoreassembles the portions, using the framing capabilities supported bycertain SCADA protocols. The remote tunneling device then places themessage on the remote DCS, as if it had been generated on the remote DCSoriginally (S610). The message then flows to the remote station using aDCS protocol (S611), and the method 600 ends (S612). If the remotestation is a field device, the field device may operate as instructed bythe message, and generate a return message for transmission to the localstation. The transmission of this return message may occur in the samemanner as described above.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example system architecture700 used for providing data acquisition and monitoring. In particular,FIG. 7 illustrates the packaging of a DCS protocol operation module (OM)message into a SCADA protocol message. As shown in FIG. 7, a message 705is transmitted via a network 710 to a local tunneling device 715. Thelocal tunneling device 715 may be similar to the tunneling device 500discussed above with respect to FIG. 5. The local tunneling device 715receives the message 705 and packages it into a SCADA protocol message720.

Packaging the message 705 into the SCADA protocol message 720 includesdividing the message 705 into portions 716 and 718. In other examples,packaging the message 705 may include dividing the message 705 into moreor fewer portions. In general, the local tunneling device 715 dividesthe message 705 into portions when the message is too large to fitwithin the data portion of a SCADA protocol frame. In FIG. 7, forexample, since the OM message 705 is too large to fit within one SCADAprotocol frame, it is divided into smaller portions 716 and 718, andplaced in two SCADA protocol frames within the SCADA protocol message720 for transmission.

The local tunneling device transmits the SCADA protocol message 720 tothe remote tunneling device 730 through a customer-supplied network 725.The customer-supplied network 720 may be a SCADA network. The remotetunneling device 730 receives the SCADA protocol message 730 and unpacksit into a DCS protocol OM message 740. Generally, the OM message 740 isthe same as the message 705. The DCS protocol OM message 740 istransmitted across a network 735.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example system architecture800 used for providing enhanced data acquisition and monitoringfunctionality. Although, in the discussion below, reference is made tospecific equipment configurations, such as OM, field control processor(FCP), APRINT, INVENSYS® I/A SERIES® controllers, or InFusion®workstations, it is understood that these configurations are merelysample arrangements, and that other arrangements are possible using thissame approach.

In more detail, the system architecture 800 includes a computer 801. Thecomputer 801 may be similar to the computer 101, or it may be anothertype of workstation, such as an InFusion® workstation. The computer 801is connected to a local tunneling device 804 via a network 802. Thenetwork 802 may be a DCS network, for example the network 802 may be alocal DCS such as the local DCS 307 discussed above with respect to FIG.3. The DCS network also may be referred to as a control network. Thelocal tunneling device 804 may be similar to the local tunneling device500 discussed with respect to FIG. 5. The local tunneling device 804also may be referred to as a workstation-side station computing device.The local tunneling device 804 may be an INVENSYS® I/A SERIES SCD5200station computing device.

The local tunneling device 804 is connected to remote station computingdevices 806A and 806B via a customer-supplied network 805. Thecustomer-supplied network 805 is a network that tends to havelow-reliability and high latency. The customer-supplied network 805 maybe a SCADA network that communicates SCADA protocol messages. The SCADAprotocol may be, for example, a DNP3 protocol or an IEC101 protocol. Ingeneral, the local tunneling device 804 tunnels data the local tunnelingdevice 804 receives via a DCS protocol over a SCADA network fortransparent operation of remote DCS systems.

The remote tunneling device 806A communicates with a field controlprocessor (FCP) 810A via network 802A. The network 802A may be similarto the network 802 described above. The network 802A may be consideredan OM channel. The network 802A may be a DCS network. The FCP 810Aeffectuates bidirectional communication between the remote stationtunneling device 806A and field bus modules (FBMs) 811 and 812.

In general, the field control processor 810A supervises and/or controlsthe FBMs 811 and 812 and devices 815 and 816, which respectivelycommunicate with the FBMs 811 and 812. The FCP 810A may be, for example,a INVENSYS® TRICONIX® workstation. The FBMs 811 and 812 transmit data toand receive data from the devices 815 and 816, respectively. Forexample, the devices 815 and/or 816 may be valves and the FBMs 811 and812 may communicate instructions to operate the valve to achieve apredetermined amount of flow through the valve. In another example, theFBMs 811 and 812 may communicate instructions to the devices 815 and/or816 to provide a status indicator associated with the devices 815 and/or816.

The example shown in FIG. 8 also includes a network 802B, which may besimilar to the network 802A described above. The network 802B may be aDCS network. Additionally, the field control processor 810B may besimilar to the field control processor 810A, and the field bus modules813 and 814 may be similar to the field bus modules 811 and 812. Thedevices 817 and 818 may be field devices such as, for example, valves,pumps, and controllers. Additionally, the devices 817 and 818 may besimilar to the devices 815 and 816.

The system 800 may be used to control the flow of fluid through a valvethat is part of device 815. For example, the computer 801 may generate aDCS protocol message that includes a command to operate the valve.Notably, the computer 801 is able to operate the valve as if the valvewas located on the same local network as the computer, even when thevalve is located on a distant network. The message is transmitted to thelocal tunneling device 804 via the network 802. The local tunnelingdevice 804 packages the DCS protocol message into a SCADA protocolmessage and transmits it toward the remote tunneling device 806A. TheSCADA protocol message is unpacked into a DCS protocol message andtransmitted toward the field control processor 810A. The field controlprocessor 810A generates a command to operate the valve according to thecommand generated by the computer 801.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 900 forimplementing enhanced data acquisition and monitoring functionality.When method 900 begins, a workstation communicates with aworkstation-side station computing device, via a DCS network (S902). Theworkstation transmits messages via an INVENSYS® I/A SERIES protocol, forexample to transmit real-time data via an OM channel, to transmitALM/SOE messages via an APRINT channel, and to transmit generalcommunication data such as configuration data via an IPC channel.

The workstation-side station computing device receives the data via theINVENSYS® I/A SERIES® protocol, processes the data, and outputs the datapackaged as INVENSYS® I/A SERIES® messages, such as via DNP3 or TCP/IP(S904). In an alternate implementation, another protocol is used insteadof DNP3. The workstation-side station computing device transmits theINVENSYS® I/A SERIES® messages to a remote station computing device viaa shared DNP space (S910).

The remote station computing device receives the INVENSYS® I/A SERIES®messages packaged in DNP3 or TCP/IP from the shared DNP, processes theINVENSYS® I/A SERIES® messages, and outputs data via the INVENSYS® I/ASERIES protocol (S906). An FCP communicates with the remote stationcomputing device via a switch, and receives and transmits messages viathe INVENSYS® I/A SERIES protocol (S907). For example, the remotestation computing device transmits real-time data on an OM channel,transmits ALM/SOE messages via an APRINT channel, and to transmitgeneral communication data such as configuration data via an IPCchannel.

By processing data in this manner, workstation-side station computingdevice is able to extend the reach of INVENSYS® I/A SERIES®communication beyond the DCS network, by tunneling data using SCADA. Inthis regard, the controller and I/O usage at SCADA locations can bestandardized, reducing overall SCADA engineering costs.

Data is received at the remote station computing device from the FCP,using the INVENSYS® I/A SERIES® protocol. The remote station computingdevice receives the data via the INVENSYS® I/A SERIES® protocol,processes the data, and outputs the data packaged as INVENSYS® I/ASERIES® messages, in DNP3 or TCP/IP from the shared DNP (S909). Theremote station computing device transmits the INVENSYS® I/A SERIES®messages to the workstation-side station computing device via a sharedDNP space (S910).

The workstation-side station computing device receives the INVENSYS® I/ASERIES® messages packaged in DNP3, processes the INVENSYS® I/A SERIES®messages, and outputs data via the INVENSYS® I/A SERIES® protocol(S911). The workstation communicates with the workstation-side stationcomputing device via a DCS network network, and receives and transmitsmessages via the INVENSYS® I/A SERIES protocol (S902).

To its advantage, the enhanced data acquisition and monitoringarchitecture uses the same controller and input-output modules asINVENSYS® I/A SERIES® control systems, provides for SOE, alarm, andfield bus support, for all types of busses. Furthermore, the enhanceddata acquisition and monitoring architecture provides FDT access toremote sites. With regard to DCS, the architecture provides increasedinput-output and controller production, leading to lower fixed costs.Moreover, the reach of INVENSYS® I/A SERIES® solutions is extendedoff-shore, over customer-supplied networks, for example to monitor anoff-shore oil rig.

Although a number of implementations have been described, it isunderstood that various modifications may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the claims. Accordingly, other implementationsare also possible.

1. A system for data acquisition and monitoring, the system comprising:a local distributed control system (DCS) further comprising: a localstation configured to generate a DCS protocol message addressed to aremote station, and a local tunneling device configured to: receive theDCS protocol message, package the DCS protocol message into aSupervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) protocol message, andtransmit the SCADA protocol message; and a remote DCS furthercomprising: a remote tunneling device configured to: receive the SCADAprotocol message, unpack the SCADA protocol message into a DCS protocolmessage, and transmit the DCS protocol message to the remote station. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein: the local station is a field device, andthe remote station is a workstation configured to transmit commands tothe field device and receive data from the field device.
 3. The systemof claim 1, further comprising a data collector disposed between thelocal tunneling device and the remote tunneling device.
 4. The system ofclaim 3, wherein the data collector is configured to pass the SCADAprotocol message from the local tunneling device to the remote tunnelingdevice without modifying the SCADA protocol message.
 5. The system ofclaim 3, wherein the data collector is configured to access the SCADAprotocol message.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising: morethan one local tunneling device, and wherein the data collector isconfigured to receive and aggregate SCADA protocol messages from themore than one local tunneling device.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe SCADA protocol comprises a Distributed Network Protocol (DNP). 8.The system of claim 1, wherein the SCADA protocol comprises an IEC 101protocol.
 9. A method for data acquisition and monitoring, the methodcomprising: generating, at a local distributed control system (DCS), aDCS protocol message addressed to a remote DCS station; receiving, at alocal tunneling device, the DCS protocol message; packaging, at thelocal tunneling device, the DCS protocol message into a SCADA protocolmessage; transmitting, from the local tunneling device, the SCADAprotocol message to a remote tunneling device; receiving, at the remotetunneling device, the SCADA protocol message; unpacking, at the remotetunneling device, the SCADA protocol message into a DCS protocolmessage; placing the DCS protocol message on to a remote DCS such thatit flows to the remote station; and receiving the DCS protocol messageat the remote station.
 10. A computer program product, tangibly embodiedin a machine readable medium, the computer program product comprisinginstructions that, when read by a machine, operate to cause a dataprocessing apparatus to: receive, from a local distributed controlsystem (DCS) station, a DCS protocol message addressed to a remotestation, the DCS protocol message including a command configured tooperate the remote station; package the DCS protocol message into aSupervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) protocol message;transmit the packaged SCADA protocol message toward the remote station;receive a return SCADA protocol message from the remote station; unpackthe return message into a DCS protocol message; and transmit the returnmessage to the local DCS station.
 11. A method of operating a remotestation, the method comprising: receiving, from a local distributedcontrol system (DCS) station, a DCS protocol message addressed to aremote station, the DCS protocol message comprising a command configuredto operate the remote station; packaging the DCS protocol message into aSupervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) protocol message;transmitting the packaged SCADA protocol message toward the remotestation; receiving a return SCADA protocol message from the remotestation; unpacking the return message into a DCS protocol message; andtransmitting the DCS protocol message to the local DCS station.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the SCADA protocol comprises a DistributedNetwork Protocol (DNP).
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the SCADAprotocol comprises an IEC 101 protocol.
 14. The method of claim 11,wherein packaging the message further comprises: determining a size ofthe DCS protocol message; comparing the size to a threshold size; anddividing the DCS protocol message into portions prior to transmittingthe DCS message, each portion being less than the threshold size. 15.The method of claim 11, wherein: the local DCS station is a workstationconfigured to transmit commands to the remote station and receive datafrom the remote station, and the remote station is a field device. 16.The method of claim 11, wherein: the return message comprises more thanone portion, the portions are received in an order other than an orderin which the portions were sent, and unpacking the return messagecomprises converting the return message having more than one portioninto an unpackaged message with one portion that includes the receivedportions arranged in the order in which the portions were sent.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the return message comprises informationrelated to one or more devices in communication with the remote station.18. The method of claim 17, wherein the device is one or more of avalve, a valve positioner, and a controller.
 19. The method of claim 11,further comprising: receiving an additional DCS protocol message fromanother local DCS station, the additional message being addressed to asecond remote station; packaging the additional DCS protocol messageinto a SCADA protocol message; and transmitting the packaged additionalmessage toward the second remote station, wherein the packagedadditional message is transmitted without regard to the transmission ofthe packaged message.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein transmittingthe additional packaged message without regard to the transmission ofthe packaged message comprises interleaving the additional packagedmessage and the packaged message.